Pre-release tickets go on sale for Lollapalooza Chile 2012

The 2012 Lollapalooza festival might not begin until next March but the hype is already starting to build as the first 5,000 tickets go on sale at reduced prices next week.

Music fans around the country are gearing up to take advantage of the pre-release offer for the international music event that received rave reviews when it debuted in Chile earlier this year.

The preliminary round of tickets to Chile’s biggest music festival will be available to the public on Monday October 3 through Puntoticket, Ripley department stores and movie theater chain, Cinemark.

This limited offer will be the only opportunity for fans to snap up discounted tickets ahead of the main ticket launch, with two-day passes selling from just US$60 (CLP30,000).

During the pre-release period, purchases will be limited to four tickets per person but the cap will be lifted when the bulk of the tickets go on sale later in the year.

The full line-up for the prominent festival will be announced in the next few weeks, along with details about regular ticket sales.

The Lollapalooza brand was launched in the USA in 1991 by Jane’s Addiction frontman, Perry Farrell, as a platform to showcase emerging rock and alternative artists.

Over the years, the festival has played an important role in raising the profile of bands such as Jane’s Addiction, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nine Inch Nails, Soundgarden, the Smashing Pumpkins and Tool.

The musical styles performed at the festival have also diversified, with hip hop and dance music artists now appearing on the event’s stages.

In April 2011, Chile hosted the first ever Lollapalooza festival held outside the United States, featuring well-known artists like the Deftones, Kanye West and the Flaming Lips.

The Chilean installment of the 2012 Lollapalooza festival will run from March 31 to April 1 in Santiago’sParque O’Higgins, with acts performing simultaneously on six different stages. Next year the festival will also debut in Sao Paulo, Brazil.